then the biggest political stories of the year with fox that is political analyst juan williams. host: that is a shot of the union station in weiss did, d.c. -- in washington, d.c.. we will take a look at politics and the year in foreign policy. we want to hear from you about your political hero. why he or she deserves the honor? your political hero of 2012. you can give us a call this

morning. host: you can reach out on social media. you can send us a tweet at twitter.com/cspanwj. we have about 15 comment so far. you can send this e-mail that journal@c-span.org. your political hero for the first 45 minutes. here are some thoughts on facebook and twitter. this is from jonathan espinoza. about 15 comments on facebook already. danny likes bernie sanders.

host: just some of the mansion's this morning. entions some of the mansi this morning. you can give us a call. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3882 for independents. also on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. a couple of stories related to the fiscal cliff.

from "thew bid frittle bit

washington times." this is ron from louisiana. caller: good morning. host: who wish to nominate? -- who would you'll nominate? caller: obama. host: what makes him your hero? caller: we were on a major slide when he came into office. he save the automobile and got osama bin laden. he did everything even though the gop did nothing but filibuster. every proposal he has made. the economy is still growing even though everything that has

been put against him. host: are there other heroes you look to beside the president? caller: this year i believe he should be the star for what he has gone up against. he was trying to do a reasonable -- get a compromise and the gop was saying their way or nothing . it is costing the nation. host: thank you very much. this comes from twitter. host: i next call is on the independent line. good morning. caller: the bartender that took the videotape of mr. romney talking about the 47%.

he showed an insight into the candidate. host: why is he a hero? caller: he had the courage to share with others. host: anybody else in congress or in texas? caller: i thought that mr. paul was a class act. host: that was tom from texas. tell us about your political hero. e-mail and twitter. give us a call, 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3880 for democrats. they all start with 202 area

codes. a lot of comments on facebook and twitter. this comes from twitter. host: she only has 140 characters. wendy from oakland, new jersey. go ahead. caller: hi. i believe the political hero should be hillary clinton. host: why is that? caller: she has kept peace around the world. she has been able to focus on the problems here in america

while she is done a tremendous job overseas. host: what would you like to see out of there? caller: become the next president of united states. i think it is a strong possibility. you mentioned travel and keeping people safe. any specific accomplishment that sticks out in your mind? caller: meeting with the pakistanis leaders and going to different countries and dealing with the world issues and being a good negotiator, peacemaker and her demeanor. unbelievable and outstanding. host: ruth from texas, you are on. caller: my hero is mitt romney. if he had been elected, he would have strained things much better

than they are now. that is part of the problem. host: what -- caller: character, honesty. host: mitt romney is your choice. caller: that is about it. host: patrick is next. caller: my political hero is president obama. host: why so? caller: he has gone through a lot. he has kept his cool during the course of the year. i look forward to him doing better. host: one thing that stands out as far as his accomplishments. caller: bringing the end to

osama bin laden. i think he has done very well. he has been patient and the adult for working with the republicans that tried to make everything for the country. host: president obama amongst others being listed this morning from the phones and facebook and twitter. after thestory passing of senator daniel in a the washington times."

host: the code of hawaii -- the governor of hawaii possibly been the replacement for daniel inouye, reported by cbs news. picking up on the remaining time and before the next senate, comes in. president obama spoke on friday and talked about the senator's

service and he might not have considered a career in public service had not been for the senator. [video clip] >> he was a proud democrat and a proud american. were it not for those insights planted in my head at the age of 11 in between is the land and a trip to yellowstone -- between disneyland -- i'm not have considered a career in public service and might not be standing here today. i think it's fair to say that daniel inouye was perhaps my earliest political inspiration. ost: senator daniel in a ouye

passed away earlier this year. we're looking at your political hero of 2012. mitch is from tennessee on the democrat's line. caller: i just want to say that my political hero had to be bernie sanders. he started talking about not paying taxes on the high end. i say bernie sanders got it right. ask anybody about the rich paying taxes. that's the problem right there. we need to take our fight to the top like it is supposed to be. obama should stand his ground.

he tried to lead and they told him no. let's get that fixed and the bottom will come up. that's what they mean by a rising tide raises all boats. host: what makes a hero politically in your mind? wisconsin on the independent line. caller: mine would be governor chris christie from pennsylvania. host: new jersey? sorry. i'm and booker. host: cory booker. caller: they differ, their politics. they do not hate each other.

they are trying. like the others i see, they do not like -- if a democrat does it, they do not like it if you are a republican. as long as it comes from congress, they do not like it. host: talk a little bit -- who in the past would be political heroes to you? caller: in the past? the guy from south africa. nelson mandela. look what he did. the idea of using soccer.

that was so clever. he could have been hateful after coming out of prison and use that for revenge. host: what about the idea of politicians as heroes? caller: i think all are trying to build day penthouse for us and they are sincere. i believe it will not matter because the foundation is broke. now matter what you put on top, the foundation will fail. host: this is ron from georgia. caller: merry christmas. number 1 would be sean hennessannity. a second runner-up is anyone who supports the amendment.

he has been my hero for a number of years. every time he opens his mouth, it seems he speaks the truth. we in north georgia stand with him. glenn beck limbaugh, bollenba are commenting on facebook. facebook.com/cspan. this is what jody says from twitter. host: you can do the same on twitter this morning. winston-salem on the democrat's line, hello. caller: good morning. merry christmas. ambassador rice. she

is a good hero because she is the one that to accept all the thed and annger on republicans that they did not want blacks to have power and they took it out on her because they were going to punish us for blaming obama. that is what the fiscal cliff is about. she was able to take it and keep her dignity. she put people higher than the position. i think god for seeing that inaction. host: this is leo. caller: good morning. merry christmas. my hero is always going to be

bernie sanders from vermont. i lean toward the socialist aspect of our society. i believe it works well when one entity takes over the police or fire department. talking about the health care and retirement. bernie sort of leans the same way. he stands up to the bankers and rich ceo's. everytime i listen to bernie, he is a broken record like the republicans are. host: was it his work on the banking industry that drew your attention? caller: his concern for the poor draws my attention.

nobody is talking about the poor. the poor are going to take the brunt of this one it goes down. host: george h. w. bush will spend christmas in the hospital, according to "the washington post."

host: samuel is from south carolina on the democrat's line. caller: hello. how have you been? host: fine, thank you. caller: joe scarborough. host: the morning talk-show host. why so? caller: he got his show body seemed to balance his program by talking to republicans and democrats and independents. when obama was down and mitt romney was gaining momentum, he pointed out some bad stuff that

mitt romney did. he stood up last week about gun controls that we should do when all those kids got killed at the school. when a republican from florida and says he is a republican but still stands up to his party, he has to be a true hero. that is one reason why i watch his show and like his show. he might disagree on policies but he will tell you that. he believes in working together and getting things done for america. he should run for office again. host: steven from twitter adds -- dale from atlanta, georgia, hi. caller: hig.

my political hero -- everybody was picking talk shows. juan williams. he put the fair and balanced and fair and balanced. host: how so? caller: npr fired him. the whole world was man behind that. host: anything else? caller: i might say steny hoyer. he is a real fighter out there. he battles with eric cantor everyday. host: as far as juan williams, you're not just saying that because he will join us this morning, are you?

caller: if juan williams was in on fox news, it wouldn't be fair and balanced. host: mr. williams will join us at 8:30 this morning. we'll take a look at foreign policy with eli lake of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." senior national security correspondent. the train station, that is how you would see it. that is not too far from our studio. there it is, all decked out for christmas day. we are talking about political heroes and why they are heroes.

you can see from the last few minutes that legislators have been mentioned and people have mentioned various talk show host. u.s. a call at 202-585-3881 for republicans -- give us a call. 202-585-3880 for democrats. you can send us a tweet, twitter.com/cspanwj. facebook, as well, facebook.com/cspan. journal@c-span.org. this is lee in wyoming. host: give us a call and let us know who your political hero is.

the story after the new ttown shooting. this is the front page of "the new york times." host: the story goes on. this is luke rosak.

host: it goes on to talk about that story. front page of "the new york daily news." this stemming from upstate new york about a sniper that set fire to a building and goes on to shoot two firemen as they were trying to take care of the fire. eric from pittsburgh, pennsylvania on the democrat's line. good morning. caller: michael moore.

host: i'm sorry? caller: michael moore. capitalism is dead. host: george, good morning. caller: good morning. george will. he is not an office holder and has no intention of running for public office. he gave a lecture in st. louis on december 4 and it was aired on c-span last evening. it was about progressivism and how would differs from thomas jefferson's vision and view of the basis for our government founded in natural rights.

wilson was the opposite in his view. a little bit of a man involved subject. the movement started with president wilson and basically 100 years ago. george will analyze it in his lecture at the differences between the declaration of independence upon which thomas jefferson based the fundamental rights, the natural rights as announced in the declaration of independence. host: what is it about mr. will that makes him a hero to you? caller: he has consistently for

decades espoused in billion form. fo brilliant writing he is a conservative in the truest sense of the word. he made clear the distinction between what happened in the french revolution and the glorious revolution that was parked of the continental socialism but will was exported to america as a result of the glorious revolution in britain. host: is there a call it that stands out that makes a person a hero to you politically?

caller: he is not a hero because he has a high degree of native intelligence. he exercises that intelligence in what i think is a productive and true way of espousing conservatism. he is not a religious person. the basis for the distinction or juxtaposition of religious beliefs and religious faith with naturalize set forth in the declaration of independence is something that he has the courage to explain clearly and to consistently espouse throughout his career. host: ok. that is george from illinois.

caller: how are you doing/ merry christmas. the political hero for this year is ron paul. ron paul has been an honest man, truth and integrity. he says the truth. he is not an average politician. he is more a statement. a statesman is someone that puts the country above political desires. he is a humble man. he is an american hero, in my opinion. he has been an american hero. his beliefs go beyond just this year. i think he is the political hero

of 2012, above anybody else. host: was there a specific instance? caller: when all the other politicians -- our wars. all the other politicians are talking, "we have to continue these wars," same old status quo about the wars that we're involved in. we're losing lives and nothing is being won. we are losing in these engagements and he spoke out. he said this is ridiculous and he stands truth to this. .e doesn't change with the wind ron paul tells you exactly what he believes and he always stood

by what he believes. you might not agree with what he is saying but you know you're getting the truth from the man. host: steve from arizona. caller: my hero is my congressman, ron barber. as your viewers might know, ron was shot in an act of political violence a couple of years ago. he went on to run and provided our district a meaningful choice for republicans to make away from extremism. host: how did you first know of mr. barber? caller: he first came to my attention during the coverage of the shooting of gabrielle giffords. host: was that instance and the aftermath that set him up as a

political hero, in your mind? caller: going through that process of being shot and then coming back and having to run two very difficult campaigns with some much money pouring in against him in a vitriolic circumstance. host: what are about his positions that stand for you and you are drawn to? caller: i am a liberal democrat and i agree with all his positions including those on gun control. it is not his positions that making a hero. he was willing to go through two more extremely difficult campaigns. we have a deeply divided district. he is --

host: apologies to him. gene from topeka, kansas -- jean. you're on. caller: ok. my political hero, there are two of them. yes, thank you. host: ok, go ahead. caller: president obama and mr. boehner. host: tell us why. caller: they have been working very hard for all us. i think they have been up against great odds and they continue to work. host: even though they are political opposites. caller: they are not opposite

on their patriotism and care about our country and the people. host: so those are some of the examples of folks you can select for your political hero of 2012. you can give us a call or post on facebook. we'll take a look at some of the foreign policy year in review. we will look at the year in politics. this program is live until 10:00 a.m. tom from michigan is next on the republican line. caller: my name is denison calling from michigan. christmas.y dr. ron paul has stood up courageously for natural rights.

and also for the constitutional limits on the general government in washington, d.c. dr. paul has staked out his positions. he doesn't shift at the wind. in a debate, he will stick to the golden rule when the audience is a billing. dr. paul has been a man of principle for decades and can articulate these positions. he brings in the young people. he spoke at the university of michigan back in 2007. he has been courageous in favor of a true free-market capitalism

and of foreign policy that is ethical and moral and puts america first. i think in retirement from congress, he will be effective and perhaps we will see greater things coming from him. host: somebody mentioned the former governor of michigan, jennifer granholm, on twitter. she was nominated among others for the political year of 2012. caller: hi. good morning and merry christmas and happy new year. my hero is obama. he is a man who stands by his word.

he puts people first over politics. he ran on raising taxes. he knows it is the right thing to do. everybody needs to carry on and do their part to keep our country strong. you can perceive him as a human being. you can see the humanity in his face as the shares of people their sorrows. host: what are you looking for him to do in his next term? caller: to stand by his principles by not giving in to republicans. we need somebody that represents most of the people, not just the elite of the country. i am looking for something to do

something with the middle east. i think republicans and democrats in the past four years have not done much about what is going on over there. having more of a stand on the relationship between israel and the arab countries and so on. host: that is from monterey, california. this is donna on twitter. thank you for holding on. this is jerry from georgia. caller: i picked mitt romney and then paul. paul predicted all this for years. romney about the smartest man that was willing to do the job to fix all of this.

yelling at boehner for not getting the bill put through the other night. you have to remember nancy pelosi and the democrats that voted no voted to go over the fiscal cliff. they have been trying to kill all the bush tax cuts. even mr. obama since 2005 when he was running as a senator. i don't know what your thoughts are about that. i would like to hear about the democrats voted to push us off the fiscal cliff. host: how you pick political heroes? caller: this is a republic and want to see going back to what it was. people are getting knocked off

of unemployment in states because their rates went down. we go off this cliff, anybody on extended unemployment will not get a check in january. host: this is gary who chooses ben bernanke. beverly is next from vermont. caller: hello/ ? my choice is the teachers of america. i cannot believe that people did not speak up more for the teachers. they do they hurled job practically every day. host: why are they political heroes? caller: who do you think is going to run the country in the future?

this is something that people do not understand. our future is our children. nobody seems to care. my choice is the teachers in america. the teachers that were killed the other day, they are true heroes. i cannot believe some of the idiots that you're putting on as heroes. host: jim is from virginia. caller: hi. .ost: you are on, sir caller: the hero i have is paul ryan. he is very intellectual when it comes to finances. the hero for 2012. host: could you expand why he's your hero?

caller: what he outlined when he was one for vice president is what i am basing it on. host: has he always been a hero of yours? caller: i had been paying attention to him even before this. host: then the vice presidency run added to that. caller: yes. host: what would you like to see out of him? caller: to run again and be the president of the united states. host: that is jim from virginia. we have been talking about political heroes. we will talk to you about who you missed the most with the least when it comes to congress. congressional departures, who

you missed the most and least. we will have a discussion about foreign policy. joining us will be eli lake. we will talk about some of the major events this year and on going in terms of foreign policy. later up, juan williams from fox news. we will take up those discussions as we continue "washington journal" on this christmas day. [video clip] >> the taping system was top secret. it seems that the only people who know for certain of its existence were my father, his secretary, and the secret service agent who installed it. that is until president nixon made the idea of white house taping famous and infamous -- [laughter] and other presidential recording systems were revealed.

against the backdrop of watergate, the concept of secret taping can seem problematic. but it is beyond doubt that this is a unique and invaluable historical resource. on these tapes, history unfolds in real-time in the most dramatic possible way. we hear the tense confrontations of the civil rights movement and the life-or- death decisions being made during the cuban missile crisis. >> caroline kennedy joins "listening in" editor ted widmer in a discussion on the 1962 recordings of the late president in the oval office, tuesday evening at 7:00, as "book tv" continues through the holiday on c-span2. >> i was 9 and i was handing out leaflets for robert kennedy. when i was 10, i made a big decision and broke with the democratic party and went to work for john lindsay, who was running for mayor of new york. i went down to the liberal party.

[laughter] i was handing out leaflets on a street corner in new york. and a woman thought this was really cute, this little boy handing out leaflets. she asked me why, and i made the case for lindsey. got an early start on my political consulting career. i made the case against his opponent as well. [laughter] she said, "that's so cute." she said, "this is for you." she hands me a box of what looked to be pastries, a white box with string. i took it back to the liberal party headquarters. we opened it up. there was all these doughnuts and a lot of $10 bills. so in one of my early lessons in politics, the district leader grabbed the money and said, "you can keep the doughnuts." [laughter] >> tonight at 8:00, obama campaign strategist david axelrod on his life in journalism and politics. that is followed at 9:30 with all five of new hampshire's first all-women delegation. and at 10:45, growing up in the white house with susan ford

bales and lynda johnson robb, tonight on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is eli lake with "newsweek" and "the daily beast." welcome. we are talking about foreign policy. of the big tent poles -- what are the big tent poles that took place this year? guest: the release of a number of prisoners that were held. some people you may have heard from like the man responsible for the murder of five u.s. servicemen outside of karbala. others are less well known.

the democratic revolutions in the region. many folks in jail like hosni mubarak that are out and that will pose a huge problem and that is what experts are telling me. host: why? guest: people may be over the hill. they may be in their 40's or their 50's. in other cases you have somebody that's probably treated in a third world prison very cruelly that will become radicalized in the process in a place like egypt or other places where there have been jailbreaks in yemen. saw that a lot last year and as a result of a change of the

guard of the arab spring. host: what was the biggest challenge for the administration this year? guest: it is hard to pick one. obama has said he wants to pay toward china and the middle east will not let him. there was a successful sabotaging program against iran's nuclear program and a ery new approach of iran's central bank and other institutions that continues to enrich uranium. is kind of're seeing the twilight of america's cold war imperium in the middle east.

the u.s. will have a relationship with the new egypt but it will not be the relationship of a client state that we saw with's the minority -- hosni mubarak or on war said sadat. is the changing relationship in the country like pakistan after the osama bin laden raid and in states like yemen. they look over the horizon that bahrain and say, we do not want that. host: one of the papers this morning has a story taking a look at the change in leadership in specific countries in asia and highlighting what is going on in north korea, south korea, and japan.

what does that prove for the administration? guest: you can put north korea in the same category as japan and south korea. they have taken power and have produced leaders but are still checked by the open society and by the democratic political system. kim jong un is the son of kim jong il who died about a year ago. to say he is a hawk misses the point. he is a tyrant. he continues to sell arms to countries like iran and build their nuclear program. host: south korea and japan -- any specific challenges?

guest: the main challenge for the korean peninsula is that at some point north korea is going to collapse. it is already a basket case country. will you have the kind of transition you had in germany? today germany is to lay prosperous country. will south korea consider the north koreans to be their cousins and brothers? there is a huge disparity at this point. you can see the physical difference because of the questions of nutrition and the way they are raised. is a total state based on fear. the challenge is to figure out how to absorb water looking like

two or three lost generations. host: foreign policy in review with eli lake. you can give us a call. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3882 for independen ts. you can send us the tweet or e- mail, f twitter.com/cspanwj, journal@c-span.org. john kerry for secretary of state and chuck cale for secretary of defense -- chuck hayes cogel. how will these nominations go/ guest: chuck hagel has not been

nominated yet. john kerry was announced by the white house on friday. the fact that kerry was announced does not bode well for the trial balloon of chalk .eguck hagel we have seen john mccain say they are going to vote for him. chuck hagel has been questioned by a number of republicans. lindsey graham is considered a more moderate republican. there is a concern with hagel and the pro-israel lobby. they tried engagement with iran for the first year of the

administration and went to the toughest sanctions in history. hagel has been an opponent of those sanctions. if he changed his view, i think that would improve his chances. look at where he is on the foreign policy debate. obama has taken positions that are more to the center than hagel. host: if senator kerry becomes secretary of state, what does he bring? guest: john kerry will have to navigate the new relationship with political islam. as countries open up more and become more democratic, part is affiliated with the muslim brotherhood will have so far

done very well. we're just at the beginning of the kind of new face with political is long. the united states has had a relationship with the muslim brotherhood for 100 years. that is often been the relationship either very quiet because in each of the muslim brotherhood wasn't out what party for many years and the u.s. considered mubarak and sadat to be important allies. kerry is going to have to navigate that in the middle east and also the diplomatic elements of assuring asian allies the united states is a reliable friend in the face of increasingly aggressive or the stance of an aggressive china.

kerry has to look at the civil war in syria and figure out how to contain the damage. if the military loses control over chemical weapons, there could be greater refugee problems and could destabilize jordan and lebanon and to spillover potentially into israel. that will be the first thing. that is much more of a job for a diplomat to ease tensions and to get people to not respond to provocations that the defense secretary. host: first question is gil rahm westchester, new york. caller: i like to know your opinion on mr. kerry's nomination for secretary of

state after he called our soldiers killers and murderers and rapists. guest:well, he has been a politician for a very long time and i think over the years he has said and some thisome thing. i am sure in 2004 he regretted some of his affiliations. kerry was never as radical as some of the other members, but he has been in the public eye for more than 40 years and has a very long track record. recently, he was someone known in washington for giving third, fourth, 6, and seven chances to bashar assad in syria. finally he gave up on him and said he is a monster. it is not for me to say whether

he is good or bad. i don't think he is going to have any problems getting confirmed although i have heard from veteran groups that are more conservative, that they had issues with him because of some of his statements during that period and during the iraq war when you saw kerry and other democrats say that u.s. marines had committed massacres which later turned out they did not. host: here is tennessee on our independent line. nick, good morning. caller: yes, i bring your attention to fast and furious and benghazi. you political people are nothing but hacks. a friend told me that what makes up the lie of the mainstream

omit and what they moit not submit. i went to the vietnam war. his name is not on that wall. it was not a long time ago. it affects every veteran. you sit there and talk for those people. you're nothing but a propaganda -- guest: i am the guy who broke a lot of the benghazi stories. many outlets have talked about my stories. i consider it to be a very important story been the. i did more reporting and you can look up my stuff online. i was not trying to gloss over

the way that veterans felt about john kerry. i was about tryinprovide a trying to provide perspective of his chances in getting through. host: how does foreign policy look going forward? guest: i still think it is going to be a big issue. the report is from the state department and does not look at who it access. there is a question that is lingering -- was this al qaeda? that was not an attack like that then there was the attac. -- like that. we have not thought for a long

time -- the u.s. intelligence community -- nobody thinks al qaeda is a top-down organization anymore. the have other groups that definitely -- they have other groups that definitely participate. it is a loose affiliation network of extremists that look at public statements from people as signals or signs to go ahead with some of their own terror and so forth. the releases from various prisons have replenished their ranks. nessee, good morning. caller: what about fast and furious? did you do any work against eric

holder to get him confirmed? that needs to be pursued. guest: i have not done a lot of work on fast and furious. one of my editors over the years has done great work on that. i highly recommend his web site. i think mike at "the daily beast" has written about this. i know a lot of people have raised a lot of issues about that. host: david from "the washington post" writes in his column this morning -- what do you think of the sentiment that he writes about? guest: let me say this for the

record. i am a big fan of his and his novels. if you ever want to read a great spy novel, i recommend his first novel. he writes in the beginning that this is a work of fiction. but the reason he writes that is because it is well known among people like myself that even though it is a fictional book, it covers a lot of the same bases as the cia but the relationship in the 1970's when they were considered a terrorist organization. he has some of the best sources in the intelligence community in washington. i do not share his optimism about the taliban. at this point, it would be great if there could be an understanding as the united states left and what the

taliban's role would be in this new government. that wille necessarily work out at this point. it is a difficult problem, i think, because the longer you stay, but longer you make the afghan government dependent to fight their battles. by announcing a date that you leave, you also run the risk of those who at al qaeda harbor before 9/11. host: what is our relationship with afghanistan? guest: i think the u.s. as a very low-key relationship with the iraqi military. it has an iraqi relationship with the prime minister and it varies about the influence with

iran. which could have been the case had it not been my view for the surge. in the case of afghanistan, i do not know how strong the relationship now is between the military and the services they are training. based on my experience in iraq, i can say that those military to military relationships that are forged as the fledgling military and the u.s. military are together fighting a counterinsurgency. that is something i think will endure. i think it is something officers will remember and stay in contact with their u.s. counterparts and is something that can endure.

the political relationship, one can hope, but i am not terribly optimistic then the. i think there are a lot of problems facing iraq right now and a lot of unresolved issues. trying to reclaim land in that city that was pushed aside by saddam hussein when he was dictator. there is a problem with the rise of al qaeda in iraq and bank at the same time, iraq has not pulled over like they did in 2005. i think that is in part because all major parties are not prepared to go to the brink like that and i think there is some hope that over time the u.s. engagement with the iraqi military can be a positive thing.

you can see if things -break the right way with iraq, you see a relationship with the army that would be much different than the u.s. relationship with the egyptian military, that you would really find a more mature relationship. host: our guest is a senior national security correspondent. from minnesota on our republican line, go ahead. color code do you think the israeli-palestinian situation is going to -- caller: do you think the israeli-palestinian situation is going to come to a head pretty soon? do you think we should put pressure on israel to get rid of their nuclear weapons? if we really want peace over there, shouldn't we want everyone in that region do not

have nuclear weapons? guest: i am reading a great book again called "six days of war." the author is an historian. threw out much of the 1960's, president kennedy and president johnson and later president nixon tried to persuade and control israel about their project. eventually, it was determined -- there was a famous memo by henry kissinger where he says, ok, better if israel is going to have a nuclear program, it better that they never declare they have a nuclear program. we talk about it today as fact largely because of an inspector who smuggled out photographs.

the difference i think this is relic is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. -- the difference i think is israel is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. israel does not declare its nuclear arsenal, and the united states does not pressure israel to sign the non-proliferation treaty. there was some stress on that secret understanding in 1970 because of efforts by other middle east states that are parties to the non-proliferation treaty. you have conferences on creating a weapon-free zone in the middle east. the latest round of talks and

amendments to the non- proliferation treaty agreed to language that were to have those conversations. host: st. mary's, ohio, brad on the democrats' line, go ahead. are you there? caller: hi. i have a tremendous amount of respect for -- host: stop listening to the tv and just ask your question. caller: yes, sir. i have a tremendous amount of respect for your position and what it has taken for you to become where you are. my comment -- my question is what is your position on susan

rice? was she really that disqualified or was she railroaded by the right for political purposes? guest: that is hard to say. listen, she did not write those talking points that she read. she is taking the fall for what ultimately was a mistake. she has taken the fall for something that was not really her fault. from the republican perspective, somebody was going to have to -- should have paid the political price for making benghazi appeared to be a spontaneous protest gone awry, as opposed to what it was which was a terrorist attack. susan rice, because she was going to be nominated, got the

unlucky number. i have heard both arguments. although i think it is fair to say that in no way did susan rice -- we have no information to suggest susan rice wrote the talking points based on the intelligence or was some way in that sense. the question remains -- did susan rice have a different, clearer picture from the classified information, and if she did, should she have not read what the unclassified talking points were? the context here before benghazi the big story was the unauthorized disclosure of intelligence information been bank to turn around and say she should have been more specific

in that environment is to have it both ways. my view is there is too much classified information. my view is there is too much secrecy in general, and we should probably we think a lot of how we do it. i am inclined to want to see diplomats like susan rice to be as candid as possible with the public. there is another view on that, that we spell too many secrets. -- spill too many secrets. host: this goes back to the 9/11 commission and how intelligence is shared amongst agencies. guest: to me, it is one of these fascinating things that always comes up. whenever there is a catastrophe like 9/11 or the u.s.s. cole,

everybody always says they did not share the information. one part of the government had one piece and they did not connect the dots. in the intelligence business, you're getting information from very technical sources or wiretaps or satellites that we do not want other people to know about. people in the business want to usually keep the stuff they collect in as small a group responsible in order to avoid the other big problem of moles and so forth. if you look at wikileaks, this was bradley manning who down the the stuff from a forward operating base. there was an archive that was available to thousands of people that had thumb drives that people could take for themselves. that is an example of where sharon went too far.

i remember when he first spoke publicly about it. host: oklahoma city is up next, on our democrats' line. caller: good morning. first of all, about been gauzy. i do not think anyone could have foreseen what happened in benghazi. it was not much different. they were both just using talking points. same thing with john kerry. he was in vietnam. at least he went to the party. guest: i think i disagree with

the first part of the statement. i think there were a lot of warnings. there were pretty nasty folks in benghazi that wanted to attack western targets. there was a string of bombings, an attempt on the life of the british ambassador, attacks at the u.s. diplomatic facility / cia base in the weeks and months leading up to the 9/11 anniversary attack. there are a lot of people who were saying the situation is really dangerous, the environment is less safe, and we need more security. ultimately, those requests were not met. host: our guest writes for "newsweek" / "the daily beast." talk about what is happening

with "newsweek" and the role that you apply online. guest: "newsweek" just printed its last paper edition. then it will go to the tablet. my hope is that lots of people will buy them. i read most of my magazines on the tablet. it is a great product. tina brown is one of the legends of the industry right now and if anybody can figure out how to do this transition from the print advertising model to a tablet, internet, online model, it is going to be tina brown. she has had one of the greatest careers you can ask for in journalism and i trust her leadership as she looks to steer the next phase. host: how often do you post?

guest: usually twice, three times a week, sometimes more. i have a lot of flexibility. i have a great editor who worked with me sometimes. we go back and forth. it is pretty good. they generally have asked me -- i do not have to deal with commodity news unless it is a huge breaking story. the idea that they want me to get scoops and unique angles. that can be at times a real challenge but it is also a very rewarding approached. host: here is arlington on are democrats' line. caller: hello. i believe in all honesty. i am a democrat. the four people killed is

hurting the bed and is disgraceful as a democrat. i see no end to this in washington. maybe there is no come back from it. i want to know what your opinion is. guest: i think america is going to come back. i see what you're saying. i am trying to report out of the been gauzy story. if i find a cover-up, i can assure you i will read 88 but at this point i am trying to get the facts that i can. on the idea of the fatalism, and i think you hear it privately from some on the right after the election of barack obama -- i just don't really believe that. i think the fundamentals of the u.s. economy are very strong and a lot of people want to invest

here. we have elections for the president every four years and for congress to correct itself. i think that is a great strength and a source of resilience. i resist the sentiment of fatalism. host: is it a concern of other efforts that the administration wants to do going forward? guest: i think benghazi is going to remain an issue for the administration because republicans are going to investigate more. it is also going to remain an issue because of the fact that right now there is still no one at that compound after more than three months after this attack. it looks as if terrorists killed a u.s. ambassador and have thus far gotten away with it. until somebody is brought to justice, it is going to be a

huge problem because right now what it looks like is -- the perception is terrorists can kill an ambassador and get away with it. i think the most damaging story was in the "the new york times" when they interviewed one of the chief suspects at a hotel in benghazi clearly not concerned he would be packed off the to bet and brought in questioned. caller: i am going to put you on the spot. i had e-mail exchanges with governor petraeus that were covered on the internet. he conveyed he was in cahoots with a warmonger. there was just an article that talked about how other warmongers were basically advising general petraeus as well. why aren't we talking about this

on c-span? are you going to cover my e-mail exchanges with general petraeus? guest: probably not. i have not read them and what is this? the last time they had implements and real power would have probably been the end of the first george w. bush term. yet there is a small minority of people on the internet who track every movement of the neo conservatives. neoconservatism as a foreign policy ideology or approach or set of series. max boot is an historian, a journalist, and someone who gives advice to a lot of people

in the military. david petraeus got advice from lots of other people who were not necessarily neoconservatism's. i can guarantee you he made his own decisions. he wanted the council from a lot of people. i am always interested in any kind of exchanges with general petraeus. host: one more call, on a republican line, good morning. caller: my question is to you in the media. for you to sit there and not pay attention to the whole story in benghazi with ms. rice. the media continues to put her in the spotlight. where was general petraeus and the cia? you do not have all of the non- classified documentation to make these accusations of what happened and what occurred.

you don't even have the privilege of having the access to that type of information. host: what information are you looking for? caller: in the hearings that they held in congress, there is classified documentation that only certain people were privileged -- the media was not privileged to the documentation that had occurred. the little media attention that she was given to say what she had to say to dignify her whole career based on a statement in the media -- host: ok. guest: i don't know what to say. i have written about things, classified information, classified briefings.

i was the first to write that the cia did not ask for backup from the military on the eve of the attack. i have tried to cover the story very closely. when asked about this on other shows and in my own writings, i tried to approach it down the middle and as fair as i can. i am not out there saying susan rice wrote the talking points. i do not know what she was briefed on, but i did feel it was important to also neutrally to explain the argument of her critics and why they found she was not qualified to be secretary of state. host: is there in under reported story? guest: congo. incredible humanitarian devastation. i think the words of africa to not get as much attention as they probably should -- wars of africa i do not get as much

attention as they probably should. i don't know. it depends on how you look at the story. for me, an under covered story is what is going to happen in russia. what will happen with some of the opposition which has been cracked down upon recently? also opposing the serious challenge of what is unfortunately increasing rule of led mayor putin. i am looking at a couple things right now and then i'd know when to give -- right now. i do not want to give a jump to other journalists. host: we have shown you the

front page of "the daily beast" web site. guest: arianna from germantown, philadelphia, thank you very much for watching. host: coming up, we are going to have a look at the political year of 2012. we will be right back. ♪ guest: the taping system was top secret. the only people who knew for certain where my father, his secretary, and the secret service agent who installed it until president nixon made the idea of the white house taping famous and infamous. [applause] other systems were revealed to

abandon the concept of secret taping can seem problematic. it is beyond a doubt that this is a unique and invaluable resource. on these tapes, history unfolds in the most dramatic possible way. >> caroline kennedy joins an editor in the discussion on the 1962 recordings of the late president in the oval office. >> i like a variety of the shows on c-span and the debate. i like to catch those when they are available. i do watch the political call-in programs as well to get the various positions from republicans, independentss, and

democrats to see what folks are thinking around the country. i think it is fair and impartial. it is a full spectrum of what the political scene is. i like the coverage. >> dennis watches c-span on comcast. created in 1979 brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: juan williams joining us from fox news'. merry christmas to you. what is your favorite political story of the year? guest: the election. the major story of the year. the man of the year from "times" magazine is president obama.

host: why is it a favorite? this coat it was a definitive collection. there is -- guest: it was a definitive election. i think in some ways, it was the most important election because of the ability to define us going forward. i think we would go gone in a different direction in terms of economic issues and in terms of some of the social and foreign policies. host: what does it say about the electorate? guest: the critical thing is a shift in the demographics. i think there is a new coalition that includes minorities and women which has never been seen as being so dominant in terms of that power to elect a president.

it is the case that democrats were getting more votes than republicans. host: when it comes to coalitions being formed -- in one of your opinion pieces earlier this month, he said marco rubio was the top lawmaker in 2012. guest: when you look back at this election, he will see marco rubio trying his very best to try to devise an immigration plan that the republicans could support, and the purpose of it from his perspective was to take away from the president the support he was going to get from the hispanic community. it is very strong. in places like florida where you would never have thought the president had a good shot, he turns out to win a state like florida.

other states boost from the hispanic community. marco rubio was trying to find a way to create a dream act lite. he took a lot of shot but could not get it done. mitt romney was never able to recover in terms of the hispanic vote in the country which plays into the idea -- hispanics were up to 10% of the vote. you see an increase in the relevance of that community and then when you put them in conjunction with asians, blacks, and you have a larger cohort than ever. i think it leads to the conclusion that we are fast changing society and the people who vote and the coalitions that form are at a critical moment. host: nitc a shaping of the immigration debate -- and now

you see a shaping of the immigration debate. guest: if you think back, president bush ii, after he was reelected in 2004, he made immigration a priority but he could not win over conservative republican votes in congress. what we saw going ford was that talk radio show host can -- going forward was that talk radio show host came out in big this time around, a lot of that anger is being muted. talk-show hosts are saying now we can do something. i think they are dealing with the political reality that as marker rubio said, it does not matter you say we share social values, if you think i am trying to deploy your grandmother, it does not matter.

host: if you want to ask juan williams questions, call us on these numbers -- you can also send us a tweet. there was a story earlier this week about mitt romney, painting him as a reluctant candidate when it came to the president. guest: his son said he did not really want to run. he is a very private person and he would have wanted anyone else to run. i do not know if this is a rationalization after the fact and people trying to create story lines that would somehow ease the pain after having gone through such a difficult campaign. we can all sit and watch and snicker, but you have to have the fire in your belly because you are out there every day and

every word is scrutinized. mrs. romney said, if you want to try, you get into the arean. they are going through something right now in terms of a recovery. i think mitt romney even going back to his dad george romney and the fact that his father ran for president, i think this has been a long burning ambition for him to be president of the united states. i just don't quite believe it. host: the first phone call for you is john from ohio. caller: merry christmas, ya'll. i hope the families up there are opening up presence and everything. mr. williams, it is great seeing you back on c-span. i watch you every day on fox news and sometimes i just grit my teeth.

some of those people on there, man, i do not see how you do it. i would be jumping across the table strangling some of them. tv just like seeing you on and i have several of your books. mr. williams, i like you on fox but sometimes i wish you could sit there and get really fired up. host: before you go, what was the highlight of your year politically? caller: , highlight of the year was i really loved the debates between the president and mitt romney. i've thought the president could ever showed more fire. mr. romney, i love the man's hair. the debates were really, really

good. item from columbus, ohio, and nobody down here really likes our governor. the debates were really, really good for me then that mr. williams, you have a great christmas. everybody, have a great christmas. they are calling me back upstairs. host: the debate. guest: the debates or the event of this campaign season and i think opened a window in the changing realities in politics in america. during that first debate, there was this incredible phenomenon which was social media was alive. i have been in washington more than 30 years as a political person. i have never had to report on a

debate where it was scored instant by instant by the american electorate. usually people watched the debate and have a reaction to what was said on stage, and then the next day there is all this fact checking and people say that is wrong. gerald for talking about no soviet includes in poland -- there are moments like that. but in general, the response is analyzed later. in 2012, the debate was analyzed second by second by people on twitter and blogs. it influenced their understandings in the final assessment of who won and who lost. so many liberals, so many liberals on twitter and online said you are not coming back at mitt romney, you are not taking

him on, and mitt romney is getting off all the good liners. at that moment, obama looked like he had a lead. his lead dissipated in some polls and suddenly we had a very substantive race. that moment when you saw the impact of social media i think was telling. in the actual election, the way that social media was used to interact with voters, to raise money by the obama campaign as well as the mitt romney campaign, it proved to be a difference maker in electing our president. host: minnesota from don on the democratss line. ' line. caller: i watched you on fox news.

-- what her father had done in the iraq war. i just find someone to sit there and let her rail about that after what her father did, i find it hard. guest: i certainly was not going to attack her for what her father did. i think you have a historical perspective that is legitimate but i think she was making an argument about what happened in benghazi and that something suspicious had taken place. i was going to treat her comments seriously and not get involved in taking shots at her dad. i think that what happened in iraq was a tragedy and has

caused a tremendous amount of american lives and treasure. if you extend it to afghanistan equally a sad situation. i think most americans are war weary at this piont and feel the country has gone astray. host: would you share the sentiment of our previous best? guest: when you look at benghazi right now, i think the scandal is over. there are people who say, wait a second, when you look at who caused this attack, who is responsible, an extension of al qaeda, the report that we saw from the investor and others does not indicate who was behind the attack in benghazi. my sense is people know maybe

not which group is responsible, but they know an extremist group was responsible. the question is whether it was tied to al qaeda in afghanistan or pakistan. i think what we are really looking at in terms of continuing questions is how much information made it up to the senior level. there are people who have questions about why hillary clinton has not said anything about benghazi the idea that there were lies, deceit, cover up, that assets were available and they were not used properly, no evidence of that in the report. i think this is evidence that people try to make a political hot potato out of benghazi in

the midst of a very turbulent campaign. now that the waters have calmed down and you can take an honest view, you can see there is no sense of the kind of corruption that led to deaths. you have one of the young men who died there dads saying the president killed my son but there is no basis in fact to support that. host: a poll was done on top stories. presidential election, followed by what happened in newtown, then the attack in libya down the list. guest: it is in the top 10 but it has never become the focus. ironically, for those who think it is a scandal -- i remember some people said the watergate of our time.

mitt romney had every opportunity and the debates to make hay with this issue and did not do it. host: mike, good morning. caller: good morning. mr. williams, merry christmas. after obama campaign in to one 2008 to reduce the deficit and then double it, do you think the american electorate was cognizant of the fact that obama doubled in it instead of cutting it in half? why don't the american people care about the debt of the united states of america? guest: i do think they care about it. the economy is the number-one issue. guess what? then it comes down to things like jobs.

then you come to the debt. it is not that americans are out of touch with the idea that the government is spending more money than we are taking in. there is lots of concern about whether or not the chinese is holding our debt. so, americans are very concerned and that the question is how you go about addressing this problem -- are very concerned. the question is how you go about addressing this problem. president obama and the democrats are saying we have a combined problem both in terms of not sufficient taxation and also we have to have cuts in spending. we have to do the cuts in spending over time because you do not want to endanger a very fragile economy.

to respond directly to your question, why do i think the electorate looking at the present obama and cutting the debt in half, i think the answer is we went through a very difficult economic recession. some spending was in order. 50% of the debt or more in terms of spending on wars, prescription drug benefits and things not properly funded, and when you ask the american people about those things, they still blame president bush ii for the economic recession and for the debt more so than president obama. host: as far as the fiscal cliff, who will most likely make the next news story? guest: i think it has to be president obama.

i think john boehner went through a devastating experience this last week when he called for a vote and did not have a vote. his troops abandoned him. it has been ongoing for a while, his relationship with some of these freshman. he is having a difficult time and i think he has been rendered -- left in a weakened state going forward. i think the people who still have power here -- the white house and the senate -- suddenly i think there is more and more attention given to senate republicans. it is not clear whether mitch mcconnell wants to play a role because he has a campaign coming in 2014. for some people on the far right, the idea that mitch mcconnell would make a deal with obama could be acceptable.

you have 10 or more republican senators who say they are willing to do business with president obama in terms of approving an increase in the marginal tax rates. if that is the case, if you could get them to pass some kind of bill and then send it on to the house, and all boehner said was i will allow a vote, and you have democrats and some republicans feeling pressure joining in, you could get a bill done. host: rick is from massachusetts on our independent line. caller: good morning. i have a problem with the president. he is the most divisive individual who has come to power in this country for a long time. he completely denied his white relatives and blames all the problems on white men by buying the votes of the lower earners

in this country by saying it is not your fault. he promised to bring this country to gather. what happened? guest: i am surprised. upper income people voted for president obama. what is clear and true is if you look at white men, white men are overwhelmingly the single group of americans that is most antagonistic toward president obama. i think he got 30% + of white men to vote for him. he was down in those categories, but white men are the heart and soul of it. you say he is the most divisive. i think we live in very divisive

times in terms of our politics, in terms of our media spending it is highly polarized here in the congress. people who do not want to compromise see compromise as a dirty word and are worried they are threatened by the other side spending the whole idea of politics having to see good in the other side and were there is possibility of common ground has gone away. i do not think you are wrong in saying that president obama's era is one of the most divisive in american history and i question whether or not he has a divisive personality. i think his approval ratings in terms of -- he is close to 50%. personally, there are lots of americans including white men who like him, but they do not

like his policy. the economic policies in particular tend to be highly divisive in america at this moment. host: part of his speech talked about his hopes going forward for his next term. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> tonight in this election, you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have to pick ourselves up. we have fought our way back. and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america the best is yet to come. [cheers and applause] i want to thank every american who participated in this

election. [cheers and applause] whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. by the way, we have to fix that. [cheers and applause] whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone -- [cheers and applause] whether you help and obama signed for a romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference. host: that was the president from election night. you talked about bringing people together. what is the president's job going forward to make that happen? guest: in terms of his legacy,

he has established some principles of a legacy in the first term but again highly this of. health care reform would be the number-one issue i would point to. he has to make an attempt to keep this economy on an upward trajectory. that is going to be difficult as you can see from these fiscal cliff negotiations. it is very difficult for lots of people to except on the republican side. it is widely understood without some investment in infrastructure or education and the like, our recovery may falter and then given what is going on in europe and much of the world, that would be bad news. i think the number one job is to keep us on good, sound, fiscal standing and he has to deal with some of these outstanding issues.

then you move on and you start to see things like education and how we deal with education in this country and the need for reform continues to be out there. working with the education secretary, it is going to occupy a bitter moment for this president. americans believe in education and of the it is the first step on that ladder to upward mobility. that is going to be a challenge that this president has to deal with them than he has to find these issues and then define them in terms of common ground. host: juan williams joining us on this christmas day. joining us from texas, this is ken. go ahead. caller: good morning.

merry christmas. i live in texas. the people in east texas -- i don't mean to say it, but white people really do not like this president. you can listen to it on talk radio. they really hated this guy. now that the election is over, some of these programs are not on now. my question is, do the republicans really believe what was being said, that mitt romney was actually in the lead, actually going to win all these swing states? , as friend sean hannity soon as they started favoring mitt romney, all these sudden the polls were -- do you really

think they believe that or was it just a ploy? i really don't know. guest: i think this is one of the intriguing questions and the people have made an effort to try to answer in recent weeks. there have been all sorts of post mortems of the campaign. some in the mitt romney campaign who told mitt romney that he was going to win. in my mind, it was obvious all along. it is my business as a political analyst for fox news to look at polls, to ask hard questions about voter turnout models. consistently, the answer was president obama has a strong hand here and is likely to win in terms of those key swing

states that were going to determine the electoral map. if you were going into this election the weekend before, it was pretty overwhelming, obama wins. gallup had them about even. there were some conservative pollsters who thought it was going to be a romney landslide. when we think young people are going to fade away and they are not as happy with president obama. you would say look at the reality of what pollsters are funding and they would say, no, and they thought there would be waived. it became wishful pecking by people talking to each other by people who work locked in a bubble. to finally come back to where you started, our people don't

like president obama and who have on fairly demonized him and i think there is an industry in terms of american media that delights in vilifying president obama and finds there's an audience for it. the reality is -- if we had talk radio in the time of a blank and, you can imagine the talk. with president kennedy, people forget the way we lionize him that he was not popular at the time he was assassinated. ronald reagan was belittled and demeaned in his time. president obama is experiencing a high level of anger from a lot of people especially on the far right. the other day he said with regard to the fiscal cliff, you guys have to look at what's best for the country. i thought he is speaking to the

issue of people who don't like him. it surprised me the response from people on the far right -- obama is so egotistical and he has become so arrogant that he thinks it is about him. yes, some people are constantly deriding this guy and have a personal. i did not think it was inappropriate for him to pointed out. host: dependent line, arlington, texas -- caller: white isn't anybody pointing out the social security problem we have is that democrats and republicans have both spent all the money that was supposed to be allocated to it. that is part of our debt but all of the politicians have spent all that money including the president, of course. nobody really brings that up.

secondly, on the budget, why doesn't anybody really give the facts about how much $1 trillion is and how much is $16 trillion. ? it is such a large amount of money, we keep pushing it to the side. guest: is a good point, people understand how big this is. it is hard to even conceive $16 trillion. it is mind-boggling. in terms of air power -- first point -- when it comes to social security -- everybody will have a tax increase january 1, the payroll tax will go up. we had a bit of a bend because of the recession and the attempt to put more money in people's pockets so you were taking money away from social security in

that regard. it is not that people have been spending it, it has become as opposed to locked in a box -- it has become more fungible in terms of the economic crisis. politicians have spent some of the social security money but the bigger issues is with medicare and entitlement programs that have grown larger a last few decades. some of them will get partially cut -- things like supplements for seniors and food programs -- those things are now on the table. the age of eligibility for medicare, even the republicans are open to that idea. president obama is open to the idea of linking the consumer price index to a lower rate of growth, the so-called chain cpi and what that will mean for medicare and social security and all the entitlement programs.

it will slow growth and decrease the amount of checks that go out to people who get money from these entitlement programs in years to come. that is coming and i don't think there is any getting away from that. i think it is part of a bracing notion as we begin the new year. host: one of the stores this year was the supreme court called up the affordable care act. talk about the political impact for the president and the congress. guest: this is the roberts court. i think this was the defining moment for chief justice john roberts. can't get away from the politics of what happened. there was such clear and strong opposition, especially from the right, for health care reform. justice roberts is a republican appointee and there is a conservative majority on this

court and many people who predicted it would be justice kennedy, not justice roberts, will play their role. just as kennedy was also upload -- opposed to the health care plan. it was an issue of taxation and as such, in the legitimate province of the congress and the president, it was up to them to put the health care plan in place. it is a critical moment now for the president in terms of his legacy and in terms of allowing a national health-care plan to be put in place and the congress that had approved this plan but without a single republican vote. you have the court of being determinant. you talked about going for and things like gay marriage and there are immigration issues remaining and affirmative action -- there are key votes coming up in terms of voting rights as well as admission to colleges

and universities. i think chief roberts acted in such a way to protect the best interest of the corporate i don't think you'll ever hear that said publicly but i think he felt that if the court had a divided liberal conservative vote against the health care plan that had been initiated by this president and passed by congress with or without the votes, it would have made the court into a more political institution given the background of bush vs. gore in 2000 and the subsequent highly politicized both. i think he was looking out for the best interests of the court and taxation is a legitimate way to do but i was surprised that it came from a chief justice of the united states. host: baltimore maryland, go ahead. caller: merry christmas, mr. williams.

i disagree highly with fox news' portrayal of the news. i find it to be highly biased and not balanced budget, that aside, there has to be someplace for those people that think like that to express their opinion. i come on the other hand, have a problem with the way the republican party treated michael steele. i do not agree with his politics, per se, but the guy has a good idea once in awhile. the way he approached the elections for republicans with the reaching out and going out -- he said i may not -- you may not say what i like to say that i will talk to you civilly and rationally. i want to know your opinion on how they treated him. is it more like the way that

certain light skinned republicans are treating obama? if it comes from a darker than us mouth, we don't like that idea. as they listen to michael steele, it might have been a different election and there definitely would not have been the candidates that opened their mouth and inserted there fourth. foot. guest: 4 michael steele, politics is definitely a rough- and-tumble game with elbows out. he would not have had his position of chair of the gop of last you had republicans who were sensitive to the racial change taking place way back in 2008. that is when he came in and the idea was here is someone who could be a spokesperson for the party who could speak to the larger notion of outrage and bringing people in and be more

inclusive. that was his appeal and i think people put a great deal of hope in him. what you saw quickly occur is a lot of the people who had been in charge of the party were quite threatened by michael steele and especially in terms of the giving. michael steele was challenged in terms of how you raise money. you had these new super packs and people on the outside who say give money to me and deny it to michael still and the gop and he had some controversy with the prospective donors taken to a strip club and he wrote a book and they didn't know he was writing a book. a lot of people who had contracts with the party and had been in power and seen the party as a base for their operation, a longtime republican operatives, did not like michael steele as chair of the party. with the emergence of the super-

pacs and the united decision of the court, they put their money into other republican concerns. it was not about his desire to have more republican out region particular. in the aftermath of the election, i see more and more republicans who say there is no question that we have to do a better job particularly with the hispanic vote and be more inclusive and deal with the emigration issue. both sides now see a reason to make a deal there in the years to come. what happened to michael steele -- i think he is still heard from this -- there are people who just feel that in terms of hardball politics, they did not feel he was their guy or he was up to the task and that's why reince preibus is there now.

their fiscal situation is much better with him that was with michael steele. host: the political story of money in politics and the amount we spend is a political story itself. guest: unbelievable, we had a record number of money spent on the election this year and so much money was spent -- been named sheldon adelson is well known in american politics. he is a casino magnate and he was not known to most people. when he put so much money into the new gingrich effort and then into the matter on the effort -- -- into the mitt romney effort and he did not win in either case and he was not alone. there were other people. both sides spent more than $1 billion. can you imagine? we are in the middle of a fiscal crisis and on the political campaign, this or reaffirmed the

status quo with republicans in charge of the house and democrats in charge of the senate and obama as president -- we spent $2 billion? really? did we simply boost local television advertising rates? i don't know but it is a good question. what does all this money by you? host: a story i saw a said he would do it again. he insinuated that he was inclined to do it again. guest: i guess he will double down. he is a guy who wants a return on his dollar and is trying to influence things. his big interests seems to be u.s. relations with israel. do i think he shifted or help to ed. i don't think he helped. host: independent line, go ahead

caller: good morning. this is just to you, juan. i have seen you put yourself on the line a lot of times. i like you and you really need to speak about the person you place on a pedestal who disappointed you. i would like to talk about the politics of this year. the benghazi incident was really tragic. honorable man lost their lives. as for health care, let it go. sometimes you get what you ask for and then you find out you don't like it. as for the economy, it is stupid but i have not heard any candidate for anyone put an emphasis on the fact that we

are infested with crime and we talk about america and the melting pot but as soon as we get another ingredient, we put them in a corner. here are the asians, here are the hispanics, blah, blah, blah. guest: recklessness to you. i guess -- merry christmas to you. >> i guess you are saying that i put obama on a pedestal. i think he is a politician. all politicians -- it is important for me as a political analyst -- to be critical of that political leader because they are exercising power and as the american people, they occupy a leadership role and is important that we constantly exercise accountability, scrutiny for these political leaders. sometimes when you look at the

polls and you say obama has a lead and some people say that poehl cannot be right or the question -- the fact is, president obama remains a pretty popular personally and the economy remains in trouble. you ask about the issues with regard to the economy. policy differences can exist but it is not about hating on a political leader or somehow seeing him as the problem. i think politicians have to be held accountable. they should be held to a high standard but i think it is unfair to demonize people. in part, that is was going on. host: virgin islands, on the democrats' line, go ahead caller: good morning and phillies not a dud. -- feliz navidad. i would like to invite your

listening public to the virgin islands during the cold winter. guest: i think everybody wants to be there. this is a great time of year to visit the u.s. virgin islands. caller: yes, from our perspective -- i saw the marginal causation of minorities was a mistake the republicans made during the election. it was highlighted during the primaries and during the convention with the puerto rico and delicate was not allowed to speak -- delegate was not allowed to speak. that was a huge message to the hispanic community and how the public inside the conventions think. in the democratic convention, it showed unity and mentioned the veterans which the republicans failed to do. they were their worst enemy when it came to the election.

in the benghazi report, it mentioned the ambassador who knew about the daily briefings about how dangerous it was, chose to leave the embassy. he went to a place that was not the place to be. all other ambassadors and all the embassies or in their embassies because it was such a dangerous place. guest: merry christmas and lots of people would love to be with you in the virgin islands. what a special opportunity that would before christmas. with regard to the convention -- i think there were lots of hispanics featured at the republican convention including now former puerto rico governor luis foruno and his wife that i think there was a show of real

effort to make a play of the idea that hispanics and find a home in the republican party. i don't think it was convincing and i don't think anything forgot about republican opposition to immigration reform or the kind of rhetoric that had been on display during the republican debate. we were talking about the presidential debate earlier but there were a number of debates among the 9 or 10 people running for the republican nomination and there was harsh language they're about hispanics and immigrants and in particular about illegal immigrants that drove mitt romney to take that part -- the hard far right stance on deportation and other wacky ideas. at the convention, the two big things the republicans were appealing to the hispanic voter and to women voters -- a real effort to re-make their image in the aftermath of what happens

during the debate. at the democratic convention, the keynote their was delivered by the mayor of san antonio. i thought the show of of the mayor and his family, he has a tremendous political future. i think is of the democratic party reaffirming their superior appeal to hispanics in the country and minorities generally. it played out in a favorable way in terms of the hispanic votes for the democrats in the election. host: alexandria, va., on our independent line -- caller: i would like to raise two points -- dealing with the senate appointee tim scott. he has been called a tokamak or tool.

what does it need to be called a otr a tool./t my second point is a about affirmative action. the republicans want affirmative-action but then they appoint this guy tim scott. even you with your experience at npr, could be considered a token. therefore you are now with fox news. guest: this notion of token -- eroded pose a -- the road a piece about the spirit we have a superstar athlete in washington named robert griffin iii, the

quarterback of the redskins and there was controversy about them because somebody said on cornballt he is safa brother. the idea that he is not authentic. they heard he might be a republican and he goes out with a white woman. it is interesting that simply being a republican or conservative or a black man makes you into a token, that you're being used by more powerful forces in a way to benefit them. you lose and a sense of autonomy or intellectual independence about bringing ideas and thoughts to the table that may have a bearing on what is mainstream fought in the black or hispanic community or asian community, any minority community.

u.s. to buy had that experience and i have had that experience. my job is to be a political analyst and tell you what i really think and cn give you some insight as to what is going on. i have written books critical in terms of the leadership, asking where are the voices to stand up and asked why anyone does not talk about 70% of blacks being born out of wedlock and the poor quality of school and not doing more than just battling to the school systems in the country. people ask why i say that. i think the idea should be that

we would put the best ideas out there, things that help all of us and help our families to grow and help our communities and children and to me -- and you should not get locked into that being the democratic or republican or black view. we need things that work. a enough of this dysfunction in congress and finger-pointing and polarization that is fed by the media. more and more, will hold independent feeling of american politics is the fastest growing sector. people want something that works, where there is real compromised an honest debate and discussion. you mentioned what happened to me at npr and i wrote a book about it. to me, is the absence of honesty. enough of the party labels. let's see what actually worked. chris christie got big queue those in the middle of the storm about saving new jersey.

that is becoming stronger in the american mind these days. host: 1 williams, thank you very much. merry christmas. guest: this is a christmas tradition for me to come with you and the on c-span so thank you. host: coming up, we will talk about congressional departures and do you will miss the most in congress. >> as president obama begins his second term of office, what is the most important issue he should consider for 2013? >> if you are in grade 6 test well, make a video message. >> it is the student can video congress -- contest.

there is a grand prize of $5,000. deadline is january 8. for more information go to student can.org. >> the time i was 9-year-old, was handing out leaflets for robert kennedy and when i was 10, i made a decision and broke with the democratic party and went to work for john lindsay for mayor of new york but i would not work for him as a republican. i work -- i went down to the liberal party headquarters and i was handing out leaflets on a street corner in new york and some woman thought this was cute that this little boy was handing out leaflets and chest me why i made the case for john lindsay and got an early start on my political consulting career and made the case against his opponent as well. she said that is cute as she handed me a box of what looked to be pastry, a white box with string. i took a back to liberal party

headquarters and we opened it up and there was all these donuts and make what of 10- dollar bills. it was one of my early lessons in politics -- the district leader grab the money and said you can keep the done about tonight at 8:00, david axelrod on his life in journalism and politics. that is followed at 9:30 with all five women delegates in new hampshire. after that, growing up in the white house tonight on c-span. "washington journal"continue as -- host: for the remainder of our time, we're talking about congressional departures in 2012 and we want you to tell us about those who have left congress and who you would miss the most or the least. you can tell us that -- senator jim demint was going to

head of the heritage foundation in washington, d.c. he is going to another position and we have a situation in the senate with senator daniel inouye passed away and a replacement is said to be named on wednesday. there is a variety of ways but that these men leave office. there was a host of those in 2012. we would like to get your thoughts on the person who left, you can tell us why you like to see them leave or what you like them to stay. the phone numbers are on your screen you consent as a tweet as well and you could send us e-mail, that ishjournal @cspan.org.

who did you miss the most and who did you miss the least? this is taking a look at the president's second term with inauguration day set for this january, here is a piece by the associated press -- it quoses presidential historians.

that is in "the washington times"this morning. there is an updated story of an president george h. w. bush who is in the hospital with fever. there's also a story in "the washington times "- the lions are long standing senators who advocated liberal issues. to the larger issue of congressional departures and who you would miss the most and the

least, that concerns our time for the next half-hour. in dallas, with matt texas, democrats aligned, good morning. caller: good morning and a merry christmas. for me, the member i will least a mess is alan west in florida. he was one of the leaders of the tea party in 2010, winning in florida and i was pretty shocked to hear him speak in texas. he is somebody i would definitely not miss at all. i think the tea party days are numbered. host: is it because of specific policies or how he delivered them? is the way he

politicize the war in iraq. somebody who is a veteran and he uses -- used his status as a veteran to politicize the war which was unpopular. it is thinking on the far right that i am not going to miss. host: maryland, our independent line -- caller: i think i will miss kent conrad the most because he was an honest hawk who really knew the numbers and was conscientious. he was bipartisan. he was out front with the public. the guy i will miss the least is a wholly joe lieberman of connecticut. he is very self-serving and

pompous and self righteous stereotype of a senator. he is a tragic figure with the democratic party, a man who was a vice president until candidate and yet could find a way to stab his own party in the back time after time. thank you. host: these are examples that you can tell us about those in congress departing in 2012 you will miss the most were the least. pick the number that best represents you on the screen and be prepared to tell us why. caller: nashville, tenn., democrats lined next. are you there? caller: i want to wish you a merry christmas and i would like

to ijuan williams a merry christmas as well. i will miss senator arlen specter. host: go ahead. caller: i like to wish you a merry christmas. . host: you would miss the sport -- senator specter from pennsylvania? caller: yes, i don't know if you heard me. that was all i had to say. host: why will you miss him? let's move onto james from ocean springs, mississippi, democrats line. caller: it will be barney frank that i will miss the most. the are still more to be done on be donerule and alan west i will miss the least. host: what comes to barney

frank, is it his efforts on banking? caller: it is mainly his efforts in banking. i think democrats are losing a very important resource in there. i understand the democrats are not in power in the compress -- in the congress and must be boring for him. i wish to be governor of massachusetts would appoint him as the interim senator. host: do you think banking legislation has had an impact? caller:no, because the republicans have blocked the dodd-frank rule. i think that will need to be implemented. we're not really safeguarded from another meltdown until it does. host: from twitter --

he was nominated by the president last week as his choice for secretary of state. he faces a formal hearing process. this is from spring hill, fla., republican line. caller: the people i would miss a have already been mentioned. the least of all would be alan west. i think the tea party was a good movement but it seems it like -- like it was hijacked by people with microphones. host: from twitter --

representative dennis kucinich out of ohio ran and lost. he is a choice that will be amongst many that you are calling in on on those you would miss the most for the least when it comes to congress. herndon, va., independent line -- caller: merry christmas, i think i will miss jim webb from virginia but it is fortunate we have tim kaine an attempt to fill those shoes but jim webb had an interesting world perspective. i hope he is on the short list with secretary of defense. host: can you expand on that? caller: i think this time in the military made him aware of the international scene. i really felt close to some of his views.

it is a little early for me to expand on that. host: this is from "the daily news " -- fraank from fort lauderdale, fla., democrats line -- we're talking about those you would miss the most and least from congress. caller: hello, the senator that i would miss the most would be jim webb. the support of veterans benefits

i think was probably better than anybody since the end of world war two, better than lyndon johnson or a number of other people that came after that. that would be my choice, easily. host: if you want to give us a call, the numbers are on your screen the lead story in "the washington post" talks about syria --

fort lauderdale, fla., on our democrats line. caller: how're you doing? my choice would be -- merry christmas to you, by the way -- my choice would be jim webb, the senator from virginia. i think he probably did more for veterans benefits than anybody i can remember. i studied history going back to

the end of world war two, to the days of harry truman and others. i think he did more than presidents like lyndon johnson and richard nixon who somewhat opposed an increase in veterans benefits while i was in college in the early 1970's. host: you are about the third or fourth person to mention senator web. caller: he deserves it. host: michigan, on our independent line, go ahead caller: good morning and mary christmas. i will miss or ron paul and dennis kucinich. if we had locked in the person with the answers for the president it would be ron paul. host: what do you think is long- term impact on congress will be? caller: has changed the dynamic of young people's minds who are waking up to what is going on in washington, d.c. and they see

that the republicans and democrats are on the same team and have got us where we are now. they have done a great job. host: woodmere, new york, republican line. caller: i would miss scott brown and the least i would mess is barney frank. host: y scott brown? caller: he was independent thinking even though he was a republican. having elizabeth warren is too much to the left for that state. host: and barney frank? caller: i found him to be very divisive. host: was it is general demeanor or specific policies? caller: i think it was a combination of both. host: what comes to fiscal cliff issues, several agencies within washington, d.c. are planning should the deadline, and go without resolution --

fairfax, va., democrats line -- caller: dennis kucinich is the

one true democrat that we had in the congress. he made more sense than was a true man of the people, in favor of ending the war is, stopping the ridiculous spending, and he will be greatly missed. i will not miss out on the west. host: from the world section of "the washington post" --

bronx, new york, republican line. caller: how are you? i will miss alan west the most because he is the only comedian. i like comedians. i am from the virgin islands anyway. nobody in the virgin islands like him. i like him because he was a comedian. i hope he does not exist anymore, thank you. host: this is from twitter --

jeff is on the phone from bedford, va., independent line. caller: probably jim webb who did not fall into party politics and he has a good chance if he runs for governor of virginia. i think he would do a fine job as secretary of defense. host: that is the fourth or fifth the. how long have you been following his political career? caller: i have been following cspan and politics for about the last 10 years. jim webb was an upstanding gentleman the whole time he was there.

if he was a leading republican, i would support him. host: from the pot -- from the front page of " the new york times" -- there is a picture that has christmas decorations and the lead story takes a look at marketing when it comes to video games and the types of weapons that is sometimes displayed in these video games.

robbie, memphis, tenn., democrat blind -- caller: i'm sorry for the incident of the children who were in the gun-shooting situation. we will miss the good people that stood up for what was right, mr. daniel inouye and his family -- god bless them all -- we have lost great people in the united states all year. i believe we should get rid of all the assault rifles. i heard a guy ask why we have an assault rifle in our communities? we are not at war. those weapons belong to our soldiers that have to protect around the world. host: we are talking about our

congressional departures in 2012. caller: we will miss our good good -- are good congressional people. host: who will you miss the most? caller: all the democrats. i am sorry to be that way and god bless the children's families involved in the incident because their families raise them well and god bless them all. god took them out of this corrupt world. host: akron, ohio, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning and the merry christmas. the person i will miss the least in congress will be jim demint. i wish him good luck with the heritage foundation. maybe he could do a better job of defending the victims of class warfare. the one i will miss the most is john kerry. he could defend the victims of

reality warfare. to them, it is not a game. host: off of twitter -- new haven, conn, good morning -- caller: a christmas to all. i will miss senator inouye most and senator lieberman least for all the reasons the previous caller mentioned. i remember him running for attorney general in connecticut and his body man was bill clinton but i think the man as a traitor to everything. host: why will you miss senator inouye. caller: because he was a lion in the senate. he was the pretty was there the

beginning when why he entered the united states. he provided a good model for barack obama. host: this is from "the washington times" --

from oswego, ill., on a republican line -- caller: even though i am a conservative, i think mr. west was an unnecessary bomb-thrower. i think mr. demint is a great man that i wish him well at the heritage foundation. he is a good conservative. he is a great guy and very down the middle with common sense and he will be missed. ron paul, i would say that a lot of the stuff he said 20 years ago has come to pass. he is one that will be missed all so. host: from "the baltimore sun" --

san antonio, texas, on our democrats line -- ron paul, it is hard to figure out what he was. the man was trying to tell the world. i am looking at paperwork right now where our government has

been hiding money. they have been hiding additional money. you would not believe it. they have been saving trillions of dollars. we've been trying to get this stuff out for a long time. rick perry no one knows why he ran for president because he is facing federal charges for stealing from old folks homes. no media will put that out there. host: michigan, independent line -- caller: i am going to join the wave for jim webb.

i am very pleased. he is very straightforward. he is almost to the point of being blunt with the american people which is a refreshing. i like the way he stood up for the military and also read some of his writing about the criminal justice system, specifically the present industrial complex in this country and he was right on the mark. he could in no way be -- be accused of being soft on the criminal element. he was more common sense about it and i will miss him a great deal. i wish he would stay -- i don't know why he quit. i wish i knew why he decided to leave. host: alan from seattle washington,

republican line -- caller: i'm not going to miss the joe walsh, the republican from illinois. because he called the president a liar. host: ok, we will leave it there. those are some of the people who will be missed and not missed. we have a few more minutes before we wrap up our program today. another program comes to you live tomorrow. columbia, south carolina, caller: hello, there. i write -- i like seeing jim dementing going. he is the poorest excuse for a senator i have seen in my lifetime. he did nothing to try to achieve

consensus amongst his peers. he did nothing for his constituents here in south carolina. he will be in good company at the heritage fund. host: what you think of him going to the heritage foundation? caller: he will not be worth much. i'm sorry to see dennis kucinich leaving. he was a treasure to have. as a mayor and representative for the city of cleveland. host: chesapeake, va., independent line. you are the last call. caller: i miss ronald reagan and before that, george washington and thomas jefferson. host: anybody this year?

?aller host: are out of time. thanks to all of you who participated. it takes a lot of people to put this program on the air especially on christmas day and i am referencing the fine staff of "washington journal." it is christmas, you can wave. they are the finest staff making it happen for you on this live program. another lie program comes to you tomorrow at 7:00, merry christmas. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> here is what is coming up this christmas day. next, first lady michelle obama shows children the white house holiday decorations, then george will talks about religion and politics. later, james taylor from a recent appearance at the national press club. >> by the time i was 9 years old, i was handing out leaflets for robert kennedy. when i was 10, i'm a big decision and broke with the democratic party, and went to work for john lindsay. i went